Act VI
Chapter 33: Prelude to War
Eastern Hillsbrad Hills
Valdar gazed at the endless hills of Hillsbrad. The armies of the Alliance had placed themselves straight in the path of the Scourge upon the King's Road. It was ironic, how the main artery of trade and commerce in days gone by had become the main path of the Scourge's invasion of the south. To the left was Southshore, resolute and untouched by the conflict. Further on was Hillsbrad itself, but that town was already bypassed by the undead. It seemed they were intent on making their way to Stromgarde.
And here they would fight…
"What ye be thinkin', sir?" Thorek Ghent's drawling accent echoed from behind him.
"This land is beautiful." Valdar said softly. A slight wind picked up; rustling the leaves of a tree he'd taken cover under.
"Aye…"
"I was told by a couple of soldiers from the 11th that there was it was a single arch-demon that destroyed Perres." Valdar said, picking a leaf from the tree.
"Perhaps it was. Maybe it was just they're minds running amuck with panic. A battle lost can be a terrifying thing. You and I know that, Valdar."
"I don't think so. Not this time. There are still reports from scouts that a single demon of unimaginable power is amongst the Scourge."
"That thing destroyed Perres. It killed Ellena." He murmured.
"Valdar…"
If it's the last thing I do, I will kill that nameless beast. I will tear its head off with my hands. Valdar crushed the leaf in his hand, discarding it. No, I can't ignore this. I'm taking this anger, and this emptiness, and making it my own cause. I've lost my brothers, my love, and probably my father, Thorek. I know I'm not the only one who's lost someone, but Light help me if I ignore this. I'm in the place to make a difference, and by the Light I will.
There weren't any more tears for Ellena, or his brothers left. They'd left with the parts of his soul he'd lost when they'd died. The vacuum that remained beckoned to be filled, and the only way he knew how was this…
"Lord Justax, its time. They've come." His guardswoman, Osra, called out. She immediately set to fastening his mount's harness.
"Good. I couldn't think of a better time. Now come, Thorek. Let's see this demon's mettle firsthand."
Walking up to the generals, Valdar could already see the situation was bad by the looks on their faces. It made him smile however, to see the pompous Field Marshal Penwright in a fret.
"Valdar, you're here. Good. The undead have made their first move against us here, at Durnhold Junction. There's now no doubt they mean to invade Stromgarde." General Tallheart announced, pointing out the gathering of little brown lines on a map.
"If the undead make it to Stromgarde my people will fight them with all the conviction our ancestors of the Arathi Empire." The Stromgardian Cramore said, pounding his mailed fists together.
"We're strung out still from the march, and they've hit sooner than anticipated. We don't want a full out engagement yet, so we need a force that will hold them off until our forces have pulled back sufficiently." Serath explained.
"Your Dogs of War are the most consolidated force, and thus you will be our rearguard line until our main body reaches the Thoradin's Wall." Tallheart ordered.
Penwright snorted. "I don't think a hedge knight can hold the line against an undead force of that magnitude. It's suicide."
"You can't talk to Lord Justax like that!" Osra cried out in protest. Valdar was just as irked by Osra's overprotective remarks and infuriated by Penwright's downright arrogance.
Just as Valdar was about to jab back, the enormous Tallheart stepped in between the two. "The field will be yours. Prove your worth to those who don't believe in it, Justax. Lordaeron is all but lost, and we're not about to let another nation fall as well!"
"Yes sir!" Valdar saluted and snapped around. The Dogs had been taking a rest from the long march nearby, and were roused up. They passed by the ruins of Durnhold, whose crumbling cells had once held thousands of orcs interned until the upstart Thrall had freed them.
For another day his forces screened the rear of the Alliance army, fending off undead raids and sorties. With two picket lines and a fume of scouts out ahead as well as all of the Missive agents out in the field, Valdar could enjoy a good deal of information. Unlike expected however, the undead did not attack in full force. Valdar believed that they must've been building their force to meet the Alliance head on in battle. If they did so, it would be a massive fight. The largest he'd ever been in at least. There would be over fifty thousand Alliance soldiers, plus another thirty thousand from Stromgarde who were being funneled to Thoradin's Wall in preparation for an invasion. From what Valdar had heard from scouts as well as the horror story's from the 11th Army, he was beginning to have some doubts.
By sundown, the Alliance had approached and encamped by Thoradin's Wall. On the horizon, thick spring storm clouds glowed orange, purple, and pink, growing and bubbling closer.
"There's going to be a storm soon." Tallheart said, walking up behind Valdar as he watched the last of his men file into position. The Wall had appeared behind some hills, huge just like the story's Valdar had heard.
In the ancient days of the Arathi Empire, King Thoradin had ordered a great wall be erected to protect against the resurgent trolls of the central lowlands and forests. The Wall had taken three generations to build, but was perhaps the greatest fortification ever built by human hands. It stretched seven miles between the Aerie Mountain Ranges and the Banelock Highlands, completely closing off the small pass between Lordaeron and Stromgarde. It was a hundred and twenty feet tall at the lowest point, and forty feet thick at its skinniest. Huge turrets and towers protruded every hundred yards, and there was a massive central cullis gate that weighted by itself over thirty tons. Inside, there was a vast honeycombed network of tunnels, barracks, cafeterias, training grounds, and more; everything and more a castle needed.
The Wall however had been neglected for two thousand years before the Second War, which had led to great decay at some parts of it. One portion had collapsed entirely, leaving vulnerable its inside tunnels and halls. The castle in its center had fallen into grave disrepair, and was further damaged by the orc invasions fifteen years ago.
Atop the Wall, behind, and before it, Stromgarde's armed forces were already preparing for the conflict. They'd positioned ballistae, catapults, and other artillery pieces, even some leased dwarven cannon, atop the Wall. In front of it, the Alliance had filtered into prepared campsites. The ground had been dug up into trenches, and spiked barriers had been erected from the northern tree line beyond sight.
"This defensive position isn't as strong as everyone thinks, but it's the best thing we've got before they get into Stromgarde. The least we can do is slow them down until the reinforcements from Stormwind arrive. This could very well be the greatest battle since Blackrock Spire."
"Aye."
"You'll take the northern base, with the Aerie Mountains as your flank. I want you stay your position at all costs. Behind you are the gap in the Wall, so if you let up, the entire front collapses."
"Can we hold, sir?" Valdar asked. He was surprised by the sincerity in his voice. He'd been alone and in command of himself for a long time. He wasn't used to relying on others.
"I hope." Tallheart said simply. The two watched in silence the unfolding undead army's torches as the sun disappeared. In the distance, deep thunder bellowed hatefully. The Scourge and Alliance forces were face to face, and the first one to blink, would lose the momentum.
Stonetalon Caverns
"The path cuts off in different directions." Cairne Bloodhoof remarked. True to his word, the cave cut out in two.
"Either of those caverns could stretch for miles. We should split up to cover more ground." Thrall replied, squinting in the dim light.
"How classic." An orc murmured in the background.
"Good luck, young Warchief."
"And to you, my new friend."
The sounds of fighting outside had begun to subside, but no one had dared enter the caverns yet. Torches, recently lit probably from the Alliance soldiers whom had come in here before them, lined the wall and ground.
The two forces diverged, Cairne and his tauren, Thrall and his orcs. In the ever-stretching caverns, the light seemed to play tricks with the eyes of the mortals whom walked in the shadow of the ancients.
Cairne was reverent throughout the journey. Long ago, in the time of the Earth Mother, it was said that one of her progeny had taken up this great place as its abode and cut out these caves with its own hands. The Oracle, as the Earth Mother's child became known as, had remained deep in these caves, separated from the rest of the world by the dangerous depths and the Spirit Bridge, a mystical highway that bridged the innermost realm of the Oracle with these caves.
Indeed, this was a holy place, but that did not mean it was safe. More than once the tauren had run into packs of roving kobolds. The stinking creatures had no respect for the earth, painfully drilling and digging holes in the precious world for petty minerals. They were sickening to even imagine, but unless they outright threatened the tauren, Cairne and his tribe had always left them alone, practicing the tenets of tolerance.
The cave had opened up into a wide area, with strange mushrooms the size of trees growing near one side. A thunderlizard had somehow found its way deep into the Oracle's cave, and was chomping away at the mushrooms contently, ignoring the tauren as they passed by, feeling at the wall for an exit. Several times they'd encountered great cave paintings, though the creatures in it Cairne recognized not, nor the script. Some depicted great ocean vessels and others a huge tree, and yet more showed lines of strange purple clad beings fighting against monsters.
After a while, Cairne had lost track of time. He wondered if it was day or night in the world outside. "How wonderful it must be for those who dwell in the earth, to be closer to perfection and without the need for light to live." He said out loud, voice echoing off the long walls. His best warriors, Azok and Jeddek, whom he'd previously sent with the Warchief to help guide him to Stonetalon, nodded. They'd returned to his command when he'd come to the orcs' aide.
"Htat uz stha?!" Strange, high pitched voices suddenly barked out.
Cairne instinctively hunkered down, lowering his torch. Bright light blinded him for a moment, but as his eyes adjusted, he recognized several pinkskins.
They must be part of the expedition that came down here.
Slowly, the tauren positioned themselves around the floundering pinkskins. They'd set up some kind of rigid wooden table, and stacks of very thin skins with strange pictures on them were scattered about, along with a tome and some swords and shiny coins.
"For the Earth Mother!" Cairne cried out, suddenly popping out from behind a boulder. His tauren did the same, and rushed towards the pinkskin defilers.
"Tu haaalns!" the alpha pinkskin shouted out, picking up one of the swords and charging at the nearest tauren. The four of his comrades suddenly rushed forward as well, brandishing metal weapons. In an instant however, the huge and powerful tauren huntsmen had cut them to ribbons, sending bloody chunks flying about the cave.
As the sounds subsided, Jeddek noticed vibrations in the dirt. Putting his ear to the ground, he felt around for a moment.
"Something has heard us." He whispered, bringing his totem to bear.
"What is it?" Cairne replied, hushing his voice. His hearing had long since dimmed to the point where he could no longer read the earth like he used to.
"It's big." Jeddek replied. Azok dropped to the ground to recheck and nodded in agreement.
"Prepare yourselves." Cairne said.
The noise grew audible quickly, even for Cairne's old ears. At first, it was like a rushing river, and then a crumbling rockslide, and then a stampede. All at once, the tauren heard a squealing noise and knew exactly what was coming.
"QUILLBOARS!"
Dozens, perhaps hundreds of quillboars poured out from the back of the cave. The tauren jumped into combat, moving with more agility and speed than one would think possible of such bulky creatures.
The quillboars swarmed around them, bypassing them in droves, with only a few stopping to attack the tauren. Jeddek was pierced by a quill through the meat of his arm, though shrugged off the injury and continued to swing his totem.
And then as soon as the quillboars had appeared, they disappeared.
"Most strange. Quillboars are usually the friends of our people. Some of them attacked us, and none offered aide." Azok muttered, confused.
"Ish al borel, Azok. This place is filled with mysteries." Cairne replied, moving on.
Following the footprints of the quillboars, the tauren found their way out of the humungous chasm into another series of tunnels. After some long minutes, the tunnels cave way again to a large chamber. The sounds of the quillboars were rampant. The tauren quickly came upon the edge of a cliff, and Cairne threw his torch into the pit.
It quickly illuminated the bottom, revealing that hundreds of quillboars had gathered around. In the middle of the writhing mass of spines was a shining blue gem, clear as crystal, yet exuding brilliance beyond anything that Cairne had ever seen.
"These quillboars must be protecting that gemstone. They probably thought we were kobolds, trying to steal their treasure." A tauren said.
"Indeed so. And the putschkam injured me." Jeddek said, cradling his wounded arm. "Where is Azok?" Cairne looked around, noticing that the other tauren had suddenly disappeared.
Suddenly, what seemed like a thousand spikes shot up from the floor of the pit where the quillboars were, sending the gore of dozens into the air. The bloody spikes retracted slowly, revealing the horrendous mess they'd left behind.
"A gruesome death. There was a lever in the shadows, and its reflection caught my eye when we stumbled into this cave." Azok's voice emerged from the darkness, a smile plastered on his face. The tauren descended the pathway into the pit, leaving Jeddek behind to make sure no one pulled the trap on them.
Upon reaching the bottom of the pit, Cairne picked up the gem, finding its slick surface hard to grip. "The gemstone has an inscription on its base." He noticed. "This is the Spirit Stone of Stonetalon Chasm. If legends are true, this will activate the Spirit Bridge which will lead to the Oracle! Now we must find young Thrall and locate the Spirit Bridge."
And so the band of tauren disappeared into the darkness of the cave, wandering for their forlorn goal.
Stonetalon Caverns
Thrall and his elite stumbled through the darkness like children. Humiliated, Thrall called upon the spirits to grant him fire. Selfish an act as it was, they permitted his indulgence this one time, giving him a fire that lit the extinguished human torches they'd found earlier.
There had been bands of humans guarding special entrances, but they'd gone a long time without seeing any now. Traps were left behind though, so they were definitely going the right way, though Thrall desperately wished he had brought with him his island trolls. They would have made all the difference in this ill fortuned endeavor.
Progressing, the coldness of the cavern began to fade, being replaced with stifling heat. Trotting along, the orcs made a sharp turn to the right and found themselves face to face with a small troop of footmen.
"Orcs! Kill them!" their leader shouted, instantly recognizing his enemy.
Thrall simply called upon the earth spirits, upturning his arms and crunching his hands into fists. The power of the shaman flowed through his body and out of his fingertips, and the cavern in front of them chomped down like a bite, squashing the humans to a messy paste except for the leader, whom had made it just far enough to not be engulfed in the quick spell.
Looking behind him, the human saw that his comrades had been dispatched with ease and knew that he had no chance. "Smart orc…" he muttered as Thrall's underlings tied him up. Clearing the dirt and rock away, the cavern was once again opened.
A gate barred the way of the orcs, and upon it strange runes glowed golden. It was the work of a wizard, and a human wizard at that.
"Stand back. It will explode if you go near it." Thrall announced. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he summoned the spirits of two ancient wolves, who rushed at the trap and sacrificed their brief corporeal lives to clear the obstacle. As the massive explosion subsided, a throng of humans rushed out of the cavern. Along with the panicked, wide eyes humans who paid no heed to the orcs, intense heat also flowed from the next room.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" "Run!" "Light save me!"
"You! What's in there!?" Thrall demanded, grabbing one of the humans by its neck.
"Monsters! They're fighting one another, and with such power! The Lady was able to hold it at bay, but it broke out of our restraints!" Thrall let the human run off with his cowardly comrades. Great roaring and screeching noises emanated from beyond the gate. Slowly making their way forward, the orcs passed out of the tunnel and into a huge chasm. A gruesome visage appeared before them. Skeletons, some still bloody and with fleshy giblets hanging from their bones, were scattered about the floor.
I thought this place was supposed to be holy.
In the air, a huge dragon and several harpies circled around each other. A river of magma bisected the room, and lit the battleground. The dragon bore shimmering scales of the Black Flight. Both sides struck at each other with vicious talons, one breathing dragonfire that was hotter than the magma below, and the others tossing stones and hurtling crude javelins.
"A dragon!" An orc cried out.
"Let those beasts kill themselves. We'll take this treasure for ourselves!" Thrall said in a quiet tone, trying not to attract the attention of the raging heavens.
Trying to seem as out of the way as possible, the orcs snuck past the battle and grabbed a handful of loot each, stuffing it in purses and jerky bags that hung off their belts.
One item caught Thrall's attention more than the others. An amulet, seemingly made of soft jade which bent and curved like cloth or links of metal, and at its end a blue stone that seemed to glow from within. Packing the amulet away, Thrall and his orcs continued, making their way past the battlefield in the skies without attracting the attention of either the dragon or the scores of harpies that harried it.
At the end of the chamber there was another gate. As Thrall neared however, he felt warmth from the amulet that he'd packed only moments ago. The gate seemed to react to the gem, and creaked open to reveal a square room with a large, corrupted bronze statue of some kind of elf woman riding a giant lion or tiger.
"I am Azune, ancient princess of the Moon Children. None may pass this river of fate until my heart is returned to me." A soothing voice came from within the statue. The magma river ran through this room as well, cutting it off from the other side; the only other route possible.
"Solving this mystery will allow us to pass. But what does she mean by her heart?" Thrall pondered out loud.
For almost an hour Thrall and the orcs attempted to solve Azune's riddle, though with no success. Not even the amulet would garner further response from the statue. Just as Thrall was about to order his orcs to backtrack however, a section of the wall near the back of the room came toppling down. From the dust came a dozen tauren; Cairne's group had arrived.
"Young Warchief, it is good to see you once again. I had feared that we might be lost in this place forever, but it seems that the Earth Mother is indeed looking out for us."
"Good to see you again as well Cairne. We have some problems however. We cannot get solve this statue's question, and thus cannot pass."
Cairne and his tauren neared, but as soon as Cairne strode near the statue, a bright light emerged from a stone that the tauren held in his hand. It was similar to the one on the amulet that he carried, the orc noticed.
"What?" Cairne looked down in surprise.
"That must be it! Cairne, you've done it!" Thrall exclaimed. Taking the gem from Cairne, Thrall climbed onto the statue and placed the gem upon the breast of the statue. "Here is your heart, Azune. Now, grant us passage to the Oracle!" Above the magma river between the two islands of land, sparks began to gather from the air and coalesce into a solid surface.
"A spectral bridge…" Thrall murmured. He'd only heard of such a technique from Kirin Tor wizards, and even then, they spoke of it only in theory.
"Ah! This is it! The Spirit Bridge, just as the legends described it! The path to the Oracle is revealed!" Cairne said, joy in his voice. The legends had been true after all.
The band threw some stones onto the bridge at first, just to make sure it was safe, and then continued onwards, passing over the red hot magma via the ghostly bridge. As they did however, the sight of several dozen humans was what met them, and not an all-knowing Oracle.
At their head was a robed woman with glossy blonde hair. Turning, her face a scowl, she uttered "Orcs…I knew we were being followed! Defend yourselves!" She brought what seemed to be some kind of staff from within her robe out and aimed it at the orcs, taking a low stance and holding her other hand above its crystalline top. The other humans all unsheathed their weapons and prepared for combat.
"STOP! There will be no violence in this place." A familiar voice shouted out. The humans gave berth to a crooked figure, and wearing a tattered brown cloth. Upon his shoulders were pauldrons covered in black raven feathers. At once Thrall recognized him.
"You're no Oracle! You're the Prophet!" Thrall exclaimed.
"Very perceptive Son of Durotan, I am the Prophet. And now that I've lured you all here, I will tell you what destiny holds." The Prophet was hunched over on his quarterstaff. Moving between the humans and the orcs, he seemed to give off an air of utter wisdom. That annoyed Thrall.
"What the HELL is going on here?!" he yelled angrily.
"Thrall, this is Jaina Proudmoore. Leader of the Survivors of Lordaeron." The Prophet introduced the young sorceress, pointing her out with his staff.
Nothing made sense to Thrall. Why was the Prophet here? What were these humans doing talking to him? Had this all been a trap? Should he not have trusted a human after all?
"Survivors? What are you blabbering about?"
"The invasion of the Burning Legion has begun. Lordaeron has already fallen, and now the demons come to invade Kalimdor. Only together, united against the shadow, will you be able to save this world from the flame." The Prophet held up his hands, and images of ruin and destruction ran through Thrall's mind like he was seeing them through his own eyes.
"Unite with them, are you mad?!" Jaina's voice broke a little.
"Why should I join with these bastards who tried to enslave my people?" Thrall asked in the human tongue, trying to provoke a fight. He could feel his blood boiling just by being near these humans.
"Don't make me laugh! You orcs killed my brother and nearly drove us to extinction! You deserved to be slain, not enslaved!" Jaina shot back.
"Have you heard NOTHING that I've said? The Legion comes to undo history and end all life. Thrall, your friend Hellscream has already fallen under the demon's influence. Soon, he and your whole race will be lost forever." The Prophet's face was now red with anger.
"No…Grom is stronger than that. I've known him for years…" Thrall already knew that his argument was lost though. "I'll die before I let the orcs fall under the Legion again."
"Then you must rescue him immediately. I have foreseen that he is the key to the destiny I promised you. However, you will need help."
"Wait-this is just insane. You can't possibly expect us to ally with the or—"
"Destiny is at hand, young sorceress. The time to choose has come. For the fate of all who yet live, humanity must join forces with the Horde."
(Hey all. I know not too much happened this chapter, but it's all in the sake of buildup. As you can see, the fight for Thoradin's Wall is about to erupt, as is the fight to save Grom and the Warsong from themselves.
I'm going to try and update two, possibly three more times this month, seeing as how most of my midterms are now over, but I can't guarantee that. Anyhow, the last section of the story will begin soon, so I hope you're all looking forward to the finale. I have some awesome things planned out, and hope that you'll enjoy the climax of this story as much as I have in writing it.
Till next time,
Omegatrooper)